The present invention generally relates to an instructional puzzle. More specifically, the present invention relates to a puzzle having a known set of characters, such as letters of an alphabet, for assembly of the puzzle such that the set is arranged in a known order of the set.
It is, of course, generally known to provide puzzles for instructional purposes, such as teaching children and the like, basic fundamentals. One such basic fundamental is teaching children the letters of the alphabet. Children often learn the letters of the alphabet at a young age through memorization and other techniques without any visual or mental conception of the appearance of the letters.
An example of an educational learning aid for teaching children the letters of the alphabet is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,353,700 to Volakakis. This patent discloses a learning aid having a plastic face cover with openings conforming to the shape of the letters. A metallic backing plate on which indicia may be applied creates better visualization of the opening in the face cover and is coupled beneath the cover plates. A plurality of separate pieces in the form of letters conforming to the array of the openings in the plastic cover is provided to permit insertion by a child.
Another similar learning aid is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,074,794 to Von Hagen. The sequencing puzzle disclosed in the '794 patent teaches the sequence of a series of elements, such as numbers or letters. The elements, in their characteristic outline shapes, are fitted to overlap and in sequence into correspondingly shaped pockets in a board. A following element, seated before the next preceding element, blocks the preceding element from being seated.
None of the known teaching aids for instructing children, however, provide a means for teaching simultaneously both an upper case and a lower case letter. Frequently, children, after learning the letters of the alphabet, only associate those letters to their upper or their lower case, but typically only to the upper case. Subsequently, children often have difficulty in learning the corresponding lower case letter associated with the upper case letter and further understanding that the lower case letter is the same as the upper case letter or vice versa.
A need, therefore, exists for an improved instructional aid and a method for teaching children and the like the proper sequence of a known set of characters, such as letters, wherein the known set includes a first set of characters and a second set of characters representative of the known set. Further, an instructional aid is provided that sequences the known set in its known order following assembly.